"The best frontrunner the game has ever seen"

I've heard the commentators say this about Ronnie often, my question is, is this in fact borne out by the statistics? are these type of statistics quantifiable and recorded?

obviously the frontrunning wasn't so good in the Masters finals against Hunter and Selby, 7-2 up and 9-6 up and lost and obviously the 2014 WC final it didn't hold true, obviously they are only three ensamples and he has played in hundred's of matches where he has been in the lead so I don't want to do him a disservice.

I'm not sure how many frames ahead is classed as frontrunning, is it 1? 3? 5? it's a bit of a nebulous term in a way isn't it.

I would have thought if these type of statistics are kept track of then Selby would have a pretty strong record in this area.

Anyway if anyone could shed more light on the above that would be very much appreciated.

Thanks.

Michael Georgiou was undeniably one of the best frontrunners in the game.

In the 2018 Shootout he never lost once from a leading position.

He never got in a leading position in a match other than that.

100% record

Can’t help with the stats I’m afraid but he's definitely not the frontrunner he once was.

He was without a doubt the best frontrunner in the game for a long time.

In recent years he struggles to start matches well, and even wins a vast majority of them from well behind, so he's become a player who can cope well with trailing in a match. In the past, this wasn't the case, barring a few exceptions.

Andre147 wrote:He was without a doubt the best frontrunner in the game for a long time.

In recent years he struggles to start matches well, and even wins a vast majority of them from well behind, so he's become a player who can cope well with trailing in a match. In the past, this wasn't the case, barring a few exceptions.

So it's not something that can be proven, it's just a line that the commentators like to say as nobody knows what it exactly even means in a way, if the statistics exist then I would guess that maybe Selby has a better record nursing big leads, if indeed that is what it means? you see how it's kind of complicated as it's never been defined what it exactly means and there isn't any proof that it's actually true but I guess if the commentators keep sating it for enough years then it just becomes accepted as being the case so the point I was making/question I was asking is if it was in fact true or not, it seems that nobody actually knows the answer.

Selby? He's better when behind in a match, he actually struggles when he has a nice lead, the WC Semis was a prime example.

Ronnie was doing it for a whole career, he rarely lost matches when he had a big lead, but last few years he's been the one doing the comebacks.

Not sure of the stats myself, but it always seemed to me that when the bucker got the lead, you were doomed.

shanew48 wrote:

Andre147 wrote:He was without a doubt the best frontrunner in the game for a long time.

In recent years he struggles to start matches well, and even wins a vast majority of them from well behind, so he's become a player who can cope well with trailing in a match. In the past, this wasn't the case, barring a few exceptions.

So it's not something that can be proven, it's just a line that the commentators like to say as nobody knows what it exactly even means in a way, if the statistics exist then I would guess that maybe Selby has a better record nursing big leads, if indeed that is what it means? you see how it's kind of complicated as it's never been defined what it exactly means and there isn't any proof that it's actually true but I guess if the commentators keep sating it for enough years then it just becomes accepted as being the case so the point I was making/question I was asking is if it was in fact true or not, it seems that nobody actually knows the answer.

Interesting that you mention Selby, I’d actually say he’s among the worst top players when it comes to putting his foot on the throat of opponents; he often lets his opponents get close to him before finding a way to push on again. 2016 world final is a good example - Selby let Ding get to made it 11-10 behind from 6-0 down.

I’d suggest Robbo’s an excellent frontrunner. Murphy too.

In terms of stats it would be a huge task to develop a statistical analysis. Firstly at what point does a match become frontrunning? When you’re three frames in front? Four? Five? Half the matches on tour these days would be over by then. Secondly is it just winning matches from that position or maintaining the margin?

“Instinctively”, watching snooker over the years I think Ronnie’s definitely a great shout for the best although as has been said not so much in the last couple of years.

I’d probably mention Davis as well - there’s a reason the few times he bungled big leads have gone down in snooker history.

Ronnie is the best frontrunner the game has ever seen.

Iranu wrote:

shanew48 wrote:

Andre147 wrote:He was without a doubt the best frontrunner in the game for a long time.

In recent years he struggles to start matches well, and even wins a vast majority of them from well behind, so he's become a player who can cope well with trailing in a match. In the past, this wasn't the case, barring a few exceptions.

So it's not something that can be proven, it's just a line that the commentators like to say as nobody knows what it exactly even means in a way, if the statistics exist then I would guess that maybe Selby has a better record nursing big leads, if indeed that is what it means? you see how it's kind of complicated as it's never been defined what it exactly means and there isn't any proof that it's actually true but I guess if the commentators keep sating it for enough years then it just becomes accepted as being the case so the point I was making/question I was asking is if it was in fact true or not, it seems that nobody actually knows the answer.

Interesting that you mention Selby, I’d actually say he’s among the worst top players when it comes to putting his foot on the throat of opponents; he often lets his opponents get close to him before finding a way to push on again. 2016 world final is a good example - Selby let Ding get to made it 11-10 behind from 6-0 down.

I’d suggest Robbo’s an excellent frontrunner. Murphy too.

In terms of stats it would be a huge task to develop a statistical analysis. Firstly at what point does a match become frontrunning? When you’re three frames in front? Four? Five? Half the matches on tour these days would be over by then. Secondly is it just winning matches from that position or maintaining the margin?

“Instinctively”, watching snooker over the years I think Ronnie’s definitely a great shout for the best although as has been said not so much in the last couple of years.

I’d probably mention Davis as well - there’s a reason the few times he bungled big leads have gone down in snooker history.

I think when they say it they are referring to getting a lead in the match and then going on to win it, I can see why they say it as historically Ronnie would steamroll opponents on a regular basis, I just wondered if they were basing it on actual statistics as they say it as though they are.

Pink Ball wrote:Not sure of the stats myself, but it always seemed to me that when the bucker got the lead, you were doomed.

Indeed. That's how it was for a long time.

There are no statistics for this, but I think it has been obvious for anyone watching snooker these last twenty years or so. A lot of other players have said this about Ronnie as well. He has the highest match win percentage out of all top players, and we all know he used to be in front a lot.

ROS is definitely the best runner the game has ever seen 10k in 27 mins think he said! Not to be sniffed at

In the lead up to maguires match today Jimmy and foulds both stated that maguire is a "great frontrunner" !! this phase is being thrown around all over the place! kind of starts to make the phase lose its value doesn't it when it is applied to so many different players!

ROS is defo the name that springs to mind....if he goes 2-3 in front its practically over